World Lung Foundation and Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica Unveil Mass Media Toolkit for Tobacco Control in Latin America
Friday, December 4, 2009
Contact: Jorge Alday, Public Relations Manager
Mexico City, Mexico, December 4, 2009) –
World Lung Foundation (WLF) and Instituto
Nacional de Salud Publica (INSP) today
announced an Internet-based resourcefor
developing rigorous mass media tobacco control
campaigns. The website details a six-step
process to help governments and
non-governmental organizations manage every
step of a campaign, including formative
research, production, message pre-testing,
media planning and buying and campaign
evaluation.
The Latin America Tobacco
Control Campaign Toolkit includes twelve
advertisements that have been rigorously
pre-tested in Mexico as part of the Bloomberg
Initiative To Reduce Tobacco Use.
Governments and NGOs can use the website to
request licenses to adapt the ads and to
request technical assistance from WLF's team of
mass media professionals. The
website was modeled on WLF's Mass
Media Resource, a global bank of ads that
have been selected for their effectiveness by a
panel of experts in tobacco control
communications Ads on
the website are categorized based on where they
fit on a phased timeline related to the
implementation of smoke-free jurisdictions,
which is currently one of the most active
policy areas in Latin American tobacco
control:
Phase 1: Graphic ads that
show the harmful effects of smoking and of
second-hand smoke can help raise awareness of
the need for smoke-free areas to protect people
from harmful toxins. These ads can also
have a direct effect on smokers, encouraging
them to quit.
Phase 2: Ads in the second phase
are more factual and seek to inform the general
public and businesses that a law or regulation
is coming into effect and that they should
prepare. These ads can reinforce the purpose of
the law and provide details of how to
comply.
Phase 3: Ads in the third phase
occur directly after a law has passed and can
be positive in their tone. The purpose of such
campaigns is to promote compliance and sustain
public support for government policies.
Phase 4: The
fourth phase of ads seeks to teach the public
something new about the harms of smoking. Such
ads, which should be graphic and illicit
negative emotions, help to promote cessation.
"A growing body of research proves that
graphic advertisements showing the harms of
tobacco on smokers and non-smokers can
facilitate quit attempts and promote support
and compliance with tobacco control policies,"
said Sandra Mullin, Senior Vice President of
Communications, World Lung Foundation. "Making
available ads that have already been tested in
Mexico will save governments and NGOs across
Latin America save time and money in getting
this life-saving intervention applied in the
region."
"A more scientific approach to
tobacco control mass media is needed in Latin
America, where too often time and money are
spent producing campaigns that do not work,"
said James Thrasher, Instituto Nacional de
Salud Publica. "We are pleased to be working
with World Lung Foundation to help facilitate
dissemination of these rigorously tested
campaigns."
Mass Media campaigns are one
of the World Health Organization's M-P-O-W-E-R
(W=Warn) strategies to reduce tobacco
consumption. MPOWER strategies are endorsed and
promoted by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce
Tobacco Use, of which World Lung Foundation is
a principal partner.
The Latin America
Resource for Tobacco Control Mass Media
Campaigns was developed by World Lung
Foundation and will be hosted and maintained in
the Tobacco Control Section of the INSP
website.
About World Lung Foundation
World Lung Foundation was established in response to the global epidemic of lung disease, which kills 10 million people each year. The organization improves global lung health by improving local capacity to conduct research, develop public policy and deliver public health education. The organization's areas of emphasis are tobacco control, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, asthma, and child lung health. For more information, please visit worldlungfoundation.org